Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Here is a more comprehensive update on the situation in Japan:

“Dear Family and Friends,

Yes, we are alright! 

It was a big one this time and the tsunami has been devastating. 

At this writing there are 66 known dead (country wide). But that number can increase as more places are examined and relatives start to ask about missing persons. 

No one at Bethel was hurt.

I was in Tokyo for the KM chool and the KH stated to shake and continued to shake. It was almost ‘break” time we were told to leave the 3rd floor hall. A brother held my arm as we walked down the stairs. 

Outside the telephone poles were shaking and the cables were dancing. It seemed to subside so we headed back, but sitting down at the desk the water in the bottle on my desk started to shake again. 

So we went out again, now it was sprinkling. Once again after it seemed to slack off we went back and the main instructor said he had contacted Bethel and was told to get the opinions of the brothers as to whether to quit and try to fit the remaining program into Saturday’s program thus lengthening it an hour or so. 

Most said that would be all right. But as we were driving home text messages came in and notified us that the school would be rescheduled. For a number this is a real test as they had taken off from work and being an English class it will be hard for them to get work off again as they are foreigners and don’t have too much freedom.

On the way home to Bethel, 5 of us in the car were trying to contact our wives but the cell phones had lost their radio waves. Finally as we were near Ebina the phones started to pick up wave and we could get through. 

For your information it took 45 minute to go in the morning and 6 hours to return. The roads were never so crowded. The entire rail system, bullet trains, subways, regular trains ground to a halt. We passed literally hundreds of people walking to their homes along the crowded highway.

For Marge and me it was the strongest and longest initial quake we ever experienced in over 50 years in Japan. Marge had gone on a study with a sister and the aftershocks were very strong and many. 

That made Marge say. “I think we will end here.” The study said, “There is only one more paragraph in the section.” So Marge did that one. Asked if Marge wanted another cup of tea, Marge said. “No, I want to go home and clean up my room. I was thinking I would find a roomful of broken dishes.” 

We are on the 5th floor but some on the 11th and 12th floors did lose some of their possessions.

The first question Marge asked at home was, “Did Vera stay in her coffin?” Yes, Marge’s Gilead classmate of 1956 died the day before and she was put into a coffin to await cremation on Monday when we will got to the crematory, Vera was 83 and died of complications from Alzheimer disease that she had suffered for some 7-8 years.

There were many after shocks … this has been a terrifying ordeal as you can imagine.

 

Warm love and greetings from shaky Ebina, Japan, 

Al & Marge”.